Bradley's Birth Story pt 2

OK- time to finish Bradley's birth story pt. 2 before I completely forget everything that happened that day. Note to self- having a baby around the holidays makes for a very busy times!

I left off with part 1 ending the weekend before my scheduled induction date..still no baby. By this point, I was basically just expecting the induction. I had lost all hope of going into labor naturally; I was already 6 days overdue and nothing was happening.

Monday, the day before the induction, I was a nervous wreck. I was cleaning the house like crazy (which was already spotless) and I kept unpacking and re-packing our hospital bags. Another crazy thing I did? I started watching the tv show "Parenthood" on netflix! Hellooo crazy mom-to-be hormones! Night time rolled around and I, of course, could not sleep. I was super tearful and could start crying at any moment. Jordan and I had one of those "last family of 2 conversations" that left me bawling, but so excited to start our lives as a family of 3! The last thing I remember was seeing 4:00am on the clock and knowing that I had to be awake by 5:30am to get ready to head to the hospital.

I got ready that morning and I was very anxious and jittery. I remember I kept shivering when I was getting ready to leave, but I wasn't that cold. The car ride to the hospital was pretty funny. I could tell Jordan was nervous; he was rambling about the most useless information..something about how old school Nintendo controllers were made. I have no idea, but it was cute.

We checked into the hospital ay 7:30am and I was really surprised at how quick they got things going. My nurse was already in the room, waiting on me and within minutes of sitting on the bed, a lady came in to start my IV through my hand. I read somewhere that the hand IV insertion was painful, so I was anxious for that, but it was fine and painless. Next thing I knew my Dr. had arrived and we were getting this baby show on the road!

At 9am my Dr. broke my water and told me I was going to feel a slow leak all day. Talk about uncomfortable! Right after my water was broken, the nurse started me on pitocin. Then I got word that my parents weren't going to be able to come to the delivery..they had come down with the flu. This made me super emotional. Jordan was nervous to tell me the bad news, but I understood their concern with not wanting to get us, and the new baby, sick. Plus, I knew it had to have been pretty bad for my mom to be missing his birth. Anyway, around 11am I started to really feel the contractions. Pain!! I remember telling Jordan that I wouldn't recommend child birth to anyone and I just wanted the pain to stop! I also think I told him I was never going through this {child birth} again :)

I was gritting my teeth pretty bad through the contractions, and sometimes I would forget to breathe..that's when I knew I wasn't going to be able to go without the epidural as I initially thought I would be able to. I wasn't nervous for the epidural at all, actually. The anethesiologist was amazing. She was so supportive in telling me I was doing a great job and to NOT MOVE. When she was doing the epidural she said "Ok now you're going to feel something and it's NOT my finger" I didn't understand what she was talking about, I just wanted relief. I now know that she meant she was about to poke me with a huge needle! The needle actually freaked Jordan out a bit. I am glad I went ahead and got the epidural because I felt immediate relief. I remember saying "Hallelujah!"

Around 12:30pm my bestie arrived. I was happy to see her, but upset because I had to sign a waiver for no videography or photography during labor. She was going to be my photog! But I was glad she was there for support. Around 1:30pm, Jordan's grandma showed up for support as well I was so glad she was there for Jordan {me too} because I knew deep down Jordan was upset that his mother wasn't there. Jordan and his gma headed down to the cafteria for lunch while my bestie hung around with me. I remember having a normal conversation with her, then all of a sudden I was in pain again! Turns out, my nurse had upped my pitocin and I could feel my contractions again. I had to text Jordan to cut his lunch short because I needed him back with me.

The anesthesiologist upped my epidural at this point. I felt better, but the pressure was unbearable. I really felt like I was going to have a bowel movement, which was my greatest fear. The nurses were trying to position me to get me more comfortable. Of course with my epidural, I felt like a huge blimp who couldn't move. I kept apologizing to the nurses for being so heavy :( At one point, they positioned me in a "froggy style" where my feet came together and my back was upright. That was the only time I cried out in pain. I felt like I was going to poop out my baby!

By now, my contractions were every minute, lasting a minute, and the monitor looked like one huge mountain. I kept saying to Jordan, "Why isn't there a break between these?!" I remember being hot and hungry and just plain irritable! My dad also showed up around this time and completely gown up because he had a cough. He wannted to be there for me and Jordan; we appreciated it. At about 3:15pm the resident checked my progress and I was complete and ready to push! Good thing because I actually felt like my body was about to start pushing on its own. My doctor arrived really quickly and we got down to business.

I remember my Dr. asking me if I knew how to push. I gave him a really short "NO" he told me to imagine bearing down and then pushing out towards the wall. I don't know why, but that really stuck with me. Pushing was a breeze..it actually felt GOOD to push as it relieved the pressure. My Dr. told me I'd be pushing for about an hour, but after a few pushes he told me it would only take 30 minutes! I pushed a few more times..I'm not sure, it was a blur. My Dr. asked if I wanted them to put the mirror "down there" I panicked and said no, but now I feel somewhat indifferent about my decision in declining..still not sure how I feel about that. Anyway, next thing I knew..my baby was placed on my chest and Jordan cut the umbilical cord. It really was a big, emotional blur. I was crying so hard. I remember saying, "Hi, Bradley! I've waited so long for you!"

They took him to the other side of the room to get cleaned up. The pediatric pulmonologist was rushed in to suction him out as he had a lot of mucus and his O2 stats were low. While that was going on, I was getting stitched up. I ended up with a 2nd degree tear and over 50 stitches; ouch! Bradley weighed in at 9lbs 1oz and 21 inches long, Jordan guessed it spot on (we had a pool going on). Once Bradley and I were both cleaned up, I immediately got him back and the lactation consultant came in to help him latch. I've been breast feeding ever since. {I will be doing a separate post on breast feeding}

A quick recap of things I learned during child birth:

• Do NOT set expectations..you'll only be disappointed. I have a problem with this; I always "plan plan plan" and when things down pan out exactly how I envision, I'm a mess.
• The hand IV is fine.
• The epidural is fine, too. --and it's OK to change your mind and get one because let's face it..pushing a baby out of you is hard..and painful!
• You will be hot..even in December (NEVER having a summer baby, btw!)
• Why even bother with mascara..seriously.
• The 1st pee after having your baby will HURT.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading and sharing in with me! This blog has been a great outlet for me and my goal is to continue sharing my journey through everything..motherhood and weight loss both.

So much has changed for me in the past 4 weeks and I can't wait to share it all. 2013 is going to be wonderful..I just know.

 

Finally a family of 3 :)

Bradley's Birth Story pt 1

Ok, I think I'm finally ready to write my son's birth story...I'm only 2 weeks late :) anyway, I think this will probably be in two parts because I want to make sure I document everything. Bradley was born 8 days after his due date so there was a lot of anxiousness and impatience for his pending arrival.

November 25 was the day before my due date. I woke up around 4:30am with contractions that started in my back and wrapped around my stomach. They really just felt like period cramps, not very painful and I could talk through them, but they were pretty consistent so I decided to time them. I timed them until 5:30am and realized they were about 6-7 minutes apart then they'd become 3-4 minutes apart, but were still not painful. I woke up Jordan and we decided to call my doctor. He told me to time them for another 2 hours and if they stayed consistent then to go get checked out in labor and delivery. I decided to take a shower to help with my back pain. Jordan checked in on me and we realized that the contractions were not letting up, but not getting worse either. Around 7:45am we decided to head over to the hospital to get checked out. I obviously have never been in labor so I didn't know exactly what I should be feeling. I went to labor and delivery and got hooked up to the monitors and a resident checked me. I was 3cm dilated and 80% effaced. The monitors showed contractions, but they would be 7 minutes apart, then 13 minutes apart, then 4 minutes, etc. So, very inconsistent. They told us to walk the halls for an hour and then get checked again for an progress. I was beginning to become less hopeful that this was the "real deal" because I could feel the contractions tapering off. When I was checked for dilation an hour later, I hadn't made any progress and was told that I was in the early stages of labor. They told me to go home and rest because I could go into "real labor" at any time, but there was no way to tell exactly when. I was devastated and embarrassed! So, we headed back home. I sulked the rest of the day because I had gotten my hopes up so high. I just wanted to meet my baby! 

My doctor called me later that evening and told me to come in the office the next day (my due date) and we could do a Membrane Sweep to see if that would help jump start labor.  I was very hopeful it would work..my hair dresser and sister both had it done which put them into labor naturally. I will be honest, the sweep was painful! I started bleeding immediately and my doctor told me he was able to "stretch" me to 4cm. He was hopeful it would work as well, but if it didn't, then I was supposed to call the office on Wednesday (2 days later) and they would schedule an induction for either Thursday or Friday. Afterwards, Jordan and I went to walk around Target to see if that would help things along too, but I was in a lot of discomfort. The next day, I did end up going to work and staying all day which was a mistake! I was achey and just very uncomfortable sitting at my desk..grumpy, too! I decided that day would be my last day before maternity leave. Luckily, I have a very understanding boss who had no problem with that.

The membrane sweep is supposed to work within 48 hours. Well, my 48 hours came and went and no change except consistent back pain. I was upset, again, because I knew an induction was next. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against inductions..but it's not what I envisioned for my son's birth. I had wanted a completely natural labor. My doctor's office called and told me the earliest they could schedule the induction was Tuesday, December 4th. What?! December?! I was devastated again. Turns out, my doctor told me that he picked December 4th because that is the longest he'd let me go overdue. By choosing 12-4-12, I still had that weekend to be given a chance to go into labor naturally like I had wanted. Again, I was hopeful that I would go into labor on my own that weekend. I wasn't even really telling family about the scheduled induction because I just knew for sure my water would break and we'd go to the hospital and have a completely unmedicated birth like I had planned my whole pregnancy.

 Until...the weekend came and went and still no baby...

Part 2 on its way!!

He's Here!

This is 11 days late, but blogger wouldn't let me post last week for whatever reason..anyway!

Introducing:

Bradley Xavier Marshall

12-4-12 4:14pm (8 days overdue!!)

9lbs 1oz 21 inches

 

Check back for his birth story coming soon :)